I’m a fully qualified International Mountain Leader and UK Summer Mountain Leader and an Aspirant UK Winter Mountain Leader. I’m a full member of BAIML (British Association of International Mountain Leaders) and the MTA (Mountain Training Association). These associations ensure that I complete Continual Professional Development and that my First Aid and Insurance is kept up to date. I also hold the French Carte Professionnelle Educateur Sportif, this enables me to comply with French Law and that my International Mountain Leader qualification has equivalence with the French Accompagnateur qualification.
A little bit more about me, I was a bit of a latecomer to the outdoors, although holidays with my parents and sister usually involved trips to Yorkshire and other parts of the UK, the walks were short and on good paths.
When I was 16 I joined BT as an apprentice and the normal induction for apprentices was a week on an “Outward Bounds” course. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the camping, abseiling, walking and canoeing on the Isle of Purbeck, it took me another 8 years before I finally joined a Mountaineering Club and started climbing and walking all over the UK.
Since joining a Mountaineering Club, I have constantly sought to improve my outdoor skills. In 2008 a friend and I booked onto an International School of Mountaineering (ISM) Alpinism course, and a love of Alpine climbing was born (added to my addiction to skiing which started in 1991). Since 2009 I’ve used the services of Andy Perkins a British Mountain Guide based in Chamonix.
I steadily became tired of piste skiing, so encouraged by Andy, I started to ski tour instead of alpine downhill skiing. This has resulted in trips to Austria, Arctic Norway, Iceland and Greenland alongside finding ski tours in the French Alps. To improve my off-piste skiing I’ve also taken courses with Alison Thacker, who is also based in Chamonix.
